Concert Review: Walk the Moon provides immersive concert experience

Nicholas Petricca, the lead singer of Walk the Moon, performs in the Sunshine Theater on Feb. 5, 2018.

There is no other word that comes to mind other than electric when looking back on Walk the Moon’s latest show in Albuquerque. The unforgivingly joyous band made a stop through the Sunshine Theater to perform for a sold-out crowd of over a thousand fans Monday during their Press Restart Tour.

Their name might not sound familiar, but their music is unavoidable. With pop hits such as “Shut Up and Dance” and “One Foot” constantly playing on the radio, it is hard not to enjoy the quartet’s infectious vibe.

Walk the Moon put on what was — in many ways — a by-the-numbers concert, yet the show felt fresh and young from start to finish. Bands that are similar in style to Walk the Moon often blow their best songs right at the start of their concert, giving the audience nothing to look forward to as the show progresses. Walk the Moon held on to their bangers until about two-thirds of the way through their show, when they played “Shut Up and Dance,” one of their largest singles to date.

From there, Walk the Moon breezed through a few more songs until they played their most recent hit, “One Foot.” For their second and last encore song, Walk the Moon visited their most vibrant song that put them on the map back in 2012, “Anna Sun.” At that point, the walls of the Sunshine Theater rattled and struggled to contain the overwhelming amount of energy Walk the Moon gave the audience.

For most of the show, I felt somewhere in between being in a music video and living out a coming-of-age music montage. It was hard to place the exact feeling, but with every guitar solo and shining synth line, I felt detached from my everyday stresses.

Nicholas Petricca, the lead singer of Walk the Moon, performs in the Sunshine Theater on Feb. 5, 2018.

About halfway through their performance, band members took some time to acknowledge their growth. Walk the Moon played at Sunshine back around 2014 with the release of their sophomore album, “Talking Is Hard.” Here, they admitted that during that performance they did not have a sold-out show but were happy to see how they have grown.

The setlist felt free flowing and natural. Despite the preplanned setlist, Walk the Moon ad-libbed the whole show, playing whatever they were feeling at the moment.

As stunning as the performance was, their set production was also fantastic. It was simplistic yet captivating, as spinning lights layered the audience and the band in a wave of rainbow colors as the two danced the night away.

The audience was surprisingly diverse, younger fans mixed with an even more surprisingly large crowd of people around their 30s to 50s. Walk the Moon’s music brilliantly meshed the seemingly separate crowds together by the end of the night. It did not matter who was around you — you were just happy to be with people having as much fun as you.

I rarely go to a concert where I would not change a thing. Other shows that create this feeling are A Tribe Called Quest and Florence and the Machine.

Walk the Moon has now entered that realm of performances where the band has tapped into something special. The band is genuinely talented and plays from the heart. It is clearly evolving, giving fans much to look forward to. This was one of my, hands-down, two-thumbs-up, smiling-emoji, favorite concerts of all time.

Colton Newman is the photo editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached by email at photoeditor@dailylobo.com or on Instagram @cnewman101.